John and Pat Smallman

DWLPtravelkids

John and Pat Smallman

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Former TravelPod Member: dwlp.travelkids


Joined: April 21st, 2012

From: lives in United States
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North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 23rd 2019

What a week we have had! We have been patting ourselves on our backs for what a good job we have done immersing ourselves in the culture and history of this remarkable city. We planned in enough days to not feel rushed in seeing and doing what ever struck our fancy, and that idea worked perfectly for us. This particular trip feels as if it is one of the best city tours we have ever done. Yay us!! We didn’t have to catch our flight until mid afternoon (more great planning on our part!!) so we slept in this morning. After another BIG and very tasty breakfast we came back up to our room to pack for our flight home. Question of the day...why do things NEVER go back into a suitcase the same way each ... read more
Very nice airport

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 22nd 2019

Just as a “housekeeping note”, we wanted to pass along a thought: We have been told with great authority a time or two through the years that French Canadians tend to be very rude and refuse to speak English even if they are fluent in the language. Our experience has been just the opposite. We came here knowing that there could be a language barrier because we might have ten words of French between the two of us...spoken with a Tennessee accent no less! With the exception of one person we came in contact with (and we think he was having a bad day), everyone was more than kind, and bent over backwards to answer any questions, give any needed directions, try to help us pick up a French word or two, and even asked us ... read more
Old science lab
Present day English library
Present day English library

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 21st 2019

Today’s blog is made up mostly of pictures as this was quite a visual day for us, so just join in the fun! We did sleep in after such a busy day yesterday, so we were in slow mode...however, we picked up the speed later on! We did listen and watch the live streaming of our church service from home—it truly is a miracle to be able to do things like that! After we “attended church”, we took the hotel elevator the 23rd floor which has a HUGE view in a dining room looking out over the city. They were kind enough to let us come in and take pictures, thus the “Birdseye” pictures in the first few shots. After that, we were once again out and about for the day. You can follow our adventures ... read more
Flowers in front of Marriott Hotel
Statue of “Muses”
Saint Jean Gate

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 20th 2019

As one note of interest, we wanted to comment on how very clean we have found Quebec City to be on this visit. We don’t know if it is because it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whether it is because they have just finished having and then cleaning up after their annual 11day summer music festival, or whether Canadians are just automatically super clean! At any rate, and for whatever reason, this is an exceptionally clean city! Our intention and plan for the day was to walk around the city on the top of the wall that surrounds most of it. That turned out to not be totally possible. Quebec City (and we assume the Provincial government) is in the throes of repairing many things in this area, the wall being one of the many ... read more
Re-enactors at St. Louis Gate
At The Citadel
Ship on St. Laurence River

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 19th 2019

First, a few facts of life in Quebec: 1) The croissants here are TOTALLY different than anything by the same name I. Have. Ever. Had. Just saying... 2) Folks from Quebec put maple syrup on anything and everything. 3) Québécois can build any building on any elevation, put stairs on it, and call it done! And it is! We slept in this morning, so didn’t finish breakfast until after 10:30. Luckily all we had to do to start our day was walk across the plaza and board our Hop On, Hop Off ride for today. Now for the confession of the day—I MIGHT be earphone challenged...probably not, but possibly. Our plan was to ride our red open-topped bus around Quebec City the whole circle of town and then get off and wander the rest of the ... read more
George V Place
Plains of Abraham In Battlefield Park
Joan of Arc statue

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 18th 2019

DISCLAIMER: I have finished working on this post this morning and am having trouble with a few of the pictures. At the beginning there may be two pictures which are mislabeled. I corrected further down in the post but it looks like they won’t stay corrected. There are a couple more errors in the pictures, but again it looks like I can’t “force” a correction. Having said that, it may come through to you perfectly fine. Those of you who are familiar with the area please cut me some slack...those of you who are not...just continue to assume I am awesome! This has been a long day so I may cut some corners, but bear with me...also, I don’t think I can get this ready to send out until morning. We had another wonderful breakfast at ... read more
Ouebec’s Parliament/Assembly Building
Fountain at Parliament
Stained glass window in Ouebec’s Parliament/Assembly Building

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 17th 2019

WOW! For those of you who have an upcoming trip to Quebec City...listen to the advice you hear and read to bring good walking (hill climbing) shoes! You will need them. We had a great day but we can attest to the fact that there are LOTS of steps and steep grades here. Add the funicular to your “cheat sheet” for when you go all the way down the bluff to the oldest part of the city. Be thrilled to pay the $3.50 per person to ride it back up to the level where the Frontenac Hotel lies. Your feet will be thankful. I promise. Mark it down. Really. Quebec City has a very European feel to it to us, and French is certainly the first language here, but everyone we met today was more than ... read more
Street view
Window Box
Statue in alley next to Price Edifice

North America » Canada » Quebec » Québec City July 16th 2019

UBERDavid and his faithful side kick Lora picked us up at 6:45 and we had an uneventful trip to BNA. We felt as if we had a cheering section from DWLP sending us off! After checking in, we had a very good breakfast at “Noshville” before heading to our terminal to await our flight to Chicago, and then on to Quebec, Canada. Had to do a quick (!!!) several terminal run to be on time for our connecting flight from Chicago to Quebec City. I think I personally set a Senior (possibly Junior!) record getting from the far end of C terminal to the Gate 5 of F, but we made it. All John had to do was draft on my tail wind...I managed to not run over anybody, so it was all good. Laura...you would ... read more
View from room
View from room
Government Building...may be Parliament building but I am not sure


This is a definitive “Heck, yeah!” to those of you who asked if there are to be anymore trip blogs after our sale of Mufasa, I hope this alleviates your worries! Since we sold our motorhome after 45+ years of RVing, most questions have been the same one...can you still do a blog?? The answer to that is definitely “Yes”! We have just given up RVing, not traveling. This is our first blog (but not first trip) post Mufasa. You will have to be the judge of whether or not the blogs are still fun! Stay tuned. Mufasa is safe in his new home in East Tennessee (thanks Kip!) and has already been to Oklahoma. His new owner is going to be following John and me on this journey. To those who were not aware that ... read more


Put in picture out of front window titled “picture of No Motorhome in front of housel... read more




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